Empty Closet
by smilelaughread
Summary: What's family meant to do but love unconditionally? Harry confesses to his sexuality. For the Year Long Scavenger Hunt and School of Prompts.


_Genre: Family - for School of Prompts_

 _29\. Write sexuality confused Harry Potter - for the Year-Long Scavenger Hunt._

* * *

"So, Harry..." Ron began. His eyes darted around the room, where the majority of the Weasley family, Hermione, Neville, Dean, Seamus, Luna, and _Draco Malfoy_ sat. Harry noted the slight glare Ron gave Draco and sighed inwardly. "Why'd you call us here?"

Harry paced in front of them, sure that he looked as though he was back in fifth year and struggling with the nightmares of Voldemort. His heart was racing, though he hoped no one could tell. He wiped sweaty palms on his trousers.

That particular topic had been the source of his recent insomnia, that much was true. He'd spent innumerable hours thinking and thinking.

His heart pounded in his chest.

What if he said the wrong thing? What if he confessed something that he might regret later?

"Er..."

"So eloquent, Potter," Draco muttered after a moment of quiet, shooting him an urging glare.

Harry grasped for some kind of comfort from the blond, just as he'd received in their flat earlier that day, but there was none to be found. That was probably for the better, anyway, because the slight indignation that boiled in his belly served to take his mind off of the topic at hand.

"I'd like to tell you something about myself."

"Mate..."

"Shh!"

Harry shot a grateful look at Hermione, who had shushed Ron. She also looked like she was back in school, sitting with her back straight and with her hands in her lap. She gazed at Harry with the scrutiny that Hogwarts professors were probably very familiar with, and he almost felt comforted for a second.

"For many years in my life, I didn't have the chance to think about myself."

"You _were_ always a magnet for attention," Dean commented, earning him a glare from Hermione. He fell silent, and Harry cleared his throat before continuing.

" _Right_. I always had the Dursleys pushing me, then Voldemort to think about. Now, I think it might be time to tell you something that's been right on the tip of my tongue since the war ended. Ginny knows."

Everyone looked to Ginny, who gave him a little smile and then reacted to the attention with a quirk of her eyebrow. Very mysterious. He loved her to pieces.

"I'd like to, er, tell you..." his resolve waned, and he wondered if he could think of a plausible lie. Draco would kill him. He gulped. "I kind of... I mean, I'd like to say for certain - there are some things I do know for certain..."

He trailed off into silence again.

Shock of shocks, Hermione spoke up. "Oh, out with it, Harry! You know you can tell us anything."

Harry studiously avoided Molly and Arthur's gazes. If his big secret was somehow unacceptable by them, then he was going to be left without their support and love. His stomach twisted painfully. So much was at stake. Parts of him knew his friends - his family, really - were really great to him. Still, he worried he might be stretching the limits of their tolerance.

He took a deep breath.

Let it out.

Another. A strangled sound.

"I'm gay."

About ten different gasps filled the room, and Harry's vision grew blurry.

"Before... before you ask any questions," he managed, "I'd like to tell you that this isn't a phase, isn't something I say lightly, and still isn't necessarily for certain. I'd like to be sure, but these things change... if I were ever to find a woman I was attracted to, it wouldn't mean anything more than further exploration for me. I've thought about it for longer than I'd like to admit, and have only started coming to terms with it. I hate lying to you - even just by omission. Please understand. I - I don't want you to think any differently of me. I'm really the same old Harry-"

"Shut up!" chorused various voices.

Then, Harry was crying, heart being pulled in a million directions. Draco's familiar arms wrapped around him protectively, and he clung to his boyfriend's shirt.

"I-I'm sorry if-"

"Don't be silly, Harry," Hermione whispered, suddenly right beside him. He felt the weight of her arm around his shoulders along with Draco's.

"If you're happy, we are too," Neville, surprisingly, said this with great intensity. The sofa creaked as he stood, but Harry's tears, once begun, were hard to stop.

"Look at the buzzing Hearnippers around his chest! Can't you see?" Luna asked no one in particular. "Harry is _very_ happy. I suspect _love..."_

Then he was being squashed by the multitude of bodies that were suddenly giving him a huge hug. Harry wondered, mind foggy with shock and overwhelming happiness, where all his luck had come from to have such a great group of friends. He'd hardly dared to hope for such a positive reaction. It was mind-boggling.

" _Harry Potter_ ," Molly said, somewhere beside his left ear, "I hope you know by now how much we love you."

"Whoever you love, we'll love too. You're our priority." Ron echoed in his ear.

From somewhere in the middle of the large group hug, Draco Malfoy's sharp voice sounded out.

"Well I don't return the sentiment, Weasley."

Harry winced at the comment, not having quite expected to tell his friends that he was going out with Draco so soon. A cacophony of shocked, confused, and gleeful - Luna, she'd been right, after all - exclamations echoed around him.

"Are you staying for dinner, Mr. Malfoy?" It wasn't a question. Molly's voice didn't leave any room for Draco to decline, but Harry knew that the offer meant good things. He finally laughed as they all moved apart again, glimpsing Draco's stricken expression. He nudged an elbow into Draco's side, and the blond softened.

With a wicked grin, he said, "Didn't I tell you it would go well?"

Harry was about to respond when the pressure against his lips told him Draco was kissing him. Harry grinned into the soft kiss when he heard Ron's scandalized shouting and Hermione's soft giggling.

He was still a little unsure about what his future might bring. He was still unfamiliar with himself, still learning and searching. But finally, after so many years, he had a struggle that he didn't need to bear alone and loving people with whom to share his growth.


End file.
